introduction
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Hugh Turvey HonFRPS x-ray artist and photographer since 1994 London
Bridging the gap between art and science, graphic design and pure photography and utilised in a myriad of collaborations, including, public art, commercial/marketing/advertising, design/publishers, TV/film, architects/interior designers. Hugh was awarded a Royal Photographic Society Honorary Fellowship in 2014 is the permanent artist in residence at the British Institute of Radiology since 2009. He became fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2016 after achievements in the management of public sector projects and volunteering expertise for the benefit of the community. Director of two companies — Gustoimages Ltd. the commercial arm of the creative practice and OOHSCREEN Ltd delivering a digital platform for remotely curated, art in public spaces. Hugh has sat on advisory boards and is a creative consultant looking at how immersive arts experiences can improve patient experience in healthcare environments. He is also a confident public speaker, having experience of communicating with small groups, on TV, and to large audiences at science festival events. |
Hugh Turvey Portrait 2021
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xogram
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Technique: Hands-on x-ray imagery made with large sheets of x-ray sensitive B/W film. Manipulation of technique: overexposure, multiple exposure, chemical processing, filtering, rigs, mechanics, physics, happy accidents, photography, trial and error and hand colouring...the pursuit of the aesthetic...I call these Xograms.
Why Xogram? There is a technique to produce a photographic image without a camera, by placing objects directly onto the surface of a photo-sensitive material and then exposing. These are called photograms (or as Man Ray called the Rayographs ) and coincidentally are also one of the first photographic imaging techniques ever used by William Fox Talbot (he called them photogenic drawings). Simply put, the only difference between x-ray images and the photograms produced by the early photographic pioneers, is the frequency of the ‘light’ used to make the exposure. Unlike Röntgen (who called them Röntgenograms) I have created a more generic term Xogram to define my x-ray images within the context of my photographic background and the use of both 'visible' light and x-ray to create the images. Xogram (Greek έξω γραμ). See also ideogram and pictogram. www.xogram.com |
commercial
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We collaborative with many clients and can advise from initial concepts through to full production with deliverables for all manner of media and application. Most of our work is produced in and around London. We have a photographic studio and in-house post-prod facilities including 4K video creation/edit. We had a major break through in 1999 when commissioned by a Swiss Advertising agency adart.ch to create and produce 6 TV commercials for Credit Suisse. These adverts pioneered groundbreaking x-ray motion became award-winners at the ITVA Festival in Koln, Germany and helped launch a commercial career.
Includes: L’Oreal France, Boots and Heinz Europe, packaging Natura San Paulo Brazil, packaging for celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal’s Waitrose UK, flora x-ray prints throughout Maslow Hotel in Johannesburg South Africa, British Airways, Ford (Ridley Scott Associates), BBC, Channel4, Energy Saving Trust, Jansport, Simplyred, Cisco, Benetton, Condé Nast, Lever Fabergé, GSK, DK, Kellogg’s, Levi’s, M&S, Novartis, Roche, TRW Automotive, SEAT, VW, Unilever, Berghaus and Rohan, Discovery Channel, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton Paris, Kenzo, Music projects are listed here, including Simply Red, Thunder, Chris Gould: www.allmusic.com |
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publish
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Coverage globally though publications, social media and outlets. Early note-worthy exposure: 4 April 1999 in The Observer Magazine, LIFE, UK and Sept 2000 in Muy Intersante - MuyInteresante.es. Innovación, Tecno, Ciencia, Cultura, Salud
Includes: Observer LIFE magazine, The Guardian, BBC Culture, The Sunday Times, Weekend FT, Scotsman, The Daily Telegraph, Disney Discover Magazine, National Geographic, Smithsonian, Washington Post, Observador Mondo, The Science Imaging Journal, Wellcome Trust Magazine, Synergy, iScience Magazine (Imperial College), Professional Photographer, Forbes, Elle, Royal Photographic Society Journal, Chicago Tribune, Metro Online, Metro Press, Flower Magazine USA, Auntminnie Europe, |
collaborate
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Pushing the technique inevitably leads to the creation of new outputs and interpretations - including:
Et Soudain, Tout Le Monde Me Manque Vertigo Films, French feature Film about a radiographer dissatisfied with monotony of the job, starts to x-ray random subjects including boyfriend, neighbors fridge, fish in a bowl etc for arts sake. This culminates with the x-ray art being recognised by a gallery and the protagonist becoming an exhibited artist. Our collaboration with the director and line producer led to the creation of all the x-ray for the film and final exhibition. The film feels very personal and autobiographical. (includes a cameo role in the x-ray exhibition scene in Paris) Android Wear™ watches have become a digital canvas for visual art. Evolving from the Xogram work of artist Hugh Turvey, 'XOGRAM' is a unique watch face now available for Android wearables. It has been created in collaboration with B-Reel who has worked with Hugh on the creative approach and Android development. Swami's collaboration with x-ray photographer Hugh Turvey (artist in residence at the British Institute of Radiology) "I've collected shells from all the beaches I've sat and surfed on over the years, to me they represent the fragility of the ocean and a celebration of the good times too. For me boards are always a combination of art, skill, shaping and finish. Surfing's unique, an art form in it's own right and that's always inspiring. Having worked with Bro and Paul (Phoenix Glassing) for 5 years we've made some fairly unique boards, you're in the hands of masters when you're with them" Swami's founder, Giles Dunn. "Lyst has collaborated with British artist and photographer Hugh Turvey has X-rayed 7 of this year’s most hyped sneakers to reveal what lies beneath the seams. Turvey’s artwork is different to any kind of sneaker photography we’ve seen before, In the Behind the Seams: Sneakers, the internal structure of each sneaker is revealed, bringing to light the details that are often overlooked by consumers." Birmingham Hippodrome + Birmingham City University’s Department of Radiography (part British Arts Council funded) Film celebrating an early pioneer of x-ray - collaboration between Award-winning contemporary dance and Hip-Hop performer/choreographer Mickael ‘Marso’ Riviere, sound artist Justin Wiggan’s sonic soundscapes and British Institute of Radiology artist in residence Hugh Turvey. |
residency |
In 2009 Hugh Turvey was appointed the first resident artist for The British Institute of Radiology since its' inauguration in 1924 and Royal Charter in 1958 granted by Her Majesty the Queen. The residency was offered to Hugh following a solo exhibition at the OXO Gallery London Titled: 'X-perimentalist' which showcased for the first time 40 Xograms to over 8000 visitors. "As Artist in Residence, Hugh will continue to promote to the public the aesthetic of x-ray and other modality derived imagery through exhibitions, workshops, talks, BIR partnerships and fulfill objects of the Royal Charter".
Other residency: Hugh Turvey was artist-in-residence over a period of six months in the X-ray department at Yeovil District Hospital. The project aimed to engage the public by making a series of visual artworks with Radiology equipment. Hugh Turvey worked closely with Sasha Moore, Senior Radiographer, radiology consultants and the arts coordinator in developing ideas for workshops and artworks to improve the environment of the department. Staff and the public were involved in bringing interesting objects and revealing their structure or content by using x-rays with a qualified radiographer. The children particularly enjoyed the workshop process, seeing science being brought alive and learning with their parents seemed a mutually beneficial and fun experience. 95% of participants from the workshops said they would be interested in using the Radiology equipment again and had enjoyed the opportunity. 29 striking artworks were produced as a result of these workshops and are now on permanent display in the department. Patients rarely see their imagery since the advent of digital radiography so part of the work produced enabled a display of the different modalities to show patients that each area views the body in different ways. Learning outcomes were disseminated nationally through the British Institute of Radiology where the artist was in a parallel residency. This project was principally funded by the Wellcome Trust and supported by Yeovil District Hospital (YDH). BBC review |
healthcare
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Hugh is passionate about the role of art in improving healthcare environments and has worked on large-scale art installation projects in hospitals in UK, Germany and USA. He is currently part of an award winning ‘communicative’ art research team that is creatively thinking about ways to improve patient experience, compliance, flow rates, orientation, empowerment, dialogue through the creation of ‘creative aid’ tools and environmental stimuli and installation.Always looking to the future, Hugh is currently piloting high definition screen art in public spaces. OOHSCREEN deliver digital exhibitions that can be curated remotely, also giving their hosts the option of custom designed digital messaging at each location, a great fit for healthcare environments, in particular.
Recently being awarded the Building better healthcare Awards 2018 for the 5 year project for Benenden Hospital Trust hospital-wins-top-award-for-best-new-build/ and hospital-creates-sensory-environment-with-high-tech-edge/ NHS TRUSTS projects include: University College Hospital - UCLH, Yeovil District Hospital, Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Bristol Royal Infirmary | University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation, Horton General Hospital - Oxford University Hospitals, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust British Institute Of Radiology article/interview relating to arts in hospitals FYI Salutogenesis, a term coined by Aaron Antonovsky, a professor of medical sociology. The term describes an approach focusing on factors that support human health and well-being, rather than on factors that cause disease. More specifically, the "salutogenic model" is concerned with the relationship between health, stress, and coping. |
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outreach
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Hugh promotes the aesthetic of x-ray and other modality derived imagery through public engagement which includes a bout of engagements at science festivals and lectures... and has a particular interest in education ( possibly influenced by coming from a family of teachers ) . An early influential engagement was giving the Christmas Lecture at University College London, with Sasha Moore, senior radiographer 2009.
'X is for X-ray' iOS app for kids, launched at RSNA (Radiological Society of North America) in Chicago 2010 in conjunction coauthors Mike Levad and Paul Rosenthal and backing from Touchpress publishers UK. The app pioneered the new technology to combine rotations of objects in both visible light and x-ray. With the swipe of a figure the viewer can change to between to the visible light and x-ray rotations which work in unison... this had never been seen before. See a review here from Teachers With Apps. inr-i (inner eye) series of x-ray workshops at Yeovil District Hospital for the public, culminating in a publicly curated touring exhibition and permanent installations - Wellcome Trust funded. TV appearance Blue Peter Interview and appearance on CBBC Blue Peter Series 57 - 4827. A huge audience reached via the BBC and included a viewer-vote on which image should be worked into an art piece. Awarded a Blue Peter badge by presenter Barney Harwood – a personal life achievement! 2012-2017, Edinburgh International Science Festival, lecture/talks, exhibition and presentations. Here is the event launch by the Society of Radiographers . X-RAY VISIONARY 2014 lecture and THE ART OF MEDICAL IMAGING 2017 lecture - with Michael Jackson Working with British Institute of Radiology at UKRCO - Multidisciplinary scientific congress and technical exhibition [The UK Radiological Congress (UKRC) and UK Radiation Oncology Congress (UKRO)] - presenting UV crafting workshops to school pupils in-order to explain x-ray and the electromagnetic spectrum. Similar workshops were also presented at Cheltenham Science Festival with support from Seimens. Talks and competition judging with the RPS and BIR |
exhibit |
2021 21 June - Aug, Hidden Garden @Summer Lights Festival, Crossrail Place Roof Garden, Canary Wharf, London, UK ( displayed in the Foster & Partners Crossrail Place Roof Garden)
Hidden Garden is an aesthetic scientific representation of flora and algae, using the medium of x-ray imaging to highlight the hidden architectural structures within the subjects. 2018 Production of new re-mastered Xograms using Chromaluxe represented and exhibited by Chappell Contemporary, UK. 2016/2017, ESRC ( Economic and Social Research Council funded) Remembering Baby Exhibition with Justin Wiggan, London Protein Gallery and Sheffield Bank Street Arts Hugh Turvey, lead-artist for the Remembering Baby: Life, Loss and Post-mortem exhibition and advisory board member for the corresponding research project End Of or Start Of Life? Visual Technology and The Transformation of Traditional Post-Mortem, influenced by research from University of Sheffield’s Department of Sociological Studies. exhibition launch and www.sands.org.uk interview. 2015/2016 International Year of Light - Touring exhibition organised by the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) with support from the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) ‘Light Works’ presents a journey through the electromagnetic spectrum from gamma rays to radio waves, showing how each kind of ‘light’ is used in our everyday lives through science, technology and medicine. Exhibition venues included: public display in the Burlington House Courtyard of the Royal Academy. 2015 1 April - 9May: X-ray Photography Hugh Turvey: Solo @ Dunbar TownHouse and Gallery. John Muir Celebrations, East Lothian Council, Dunbar SciFest 2014 EXPOSÉ: Material and Surface, solo exhibitions at:
2011/2013 touring with Royal Photographic Society’s International Images for Science exhibitions. 2012 BELIEF: Exhibition at the progressive humanities-meets-medicine symposium Medicine Unboxed, Cheltenham. 2012 Trip the Light Fantastic: Exhibition at Cheltenham International Music Festival. 2010-2015 inr-i (inner eye) touring public exhibition created in 2010, Wellcome Trust funded…Featured at multiple UK science festivals and NHS Hospitals. 2010 Kinetica Art Fair, London. 2009 X-perimentalist: solo exhibition at the Gallery@OXO, London. 1994 John Kobal Photographic Portrait Awards - National Portrait Gallery NPG - London. (now known as the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize) |
archive |
A archive library of work is available for licensing - these can all be supplied also directly
https://stories.sciencephoto.com/portfolio/hugh-turvey/ 3000 images - sciencephoto.com/gustoimages 61 videos - sciencephoto.com/gustoimages 723 images - gettyimages.co.uk/gustomages 155 images - gettyimages.co.uk/gustoimages |
X waves |
X marks the spot. It takes complex interactions of light interference, reflection and diffraction to ‘focus’ X-ray. I focus this fantastical ‘light’ to illuminate the liminal shadow-spaces of the material world.
X denotes the unknown. I look for transparency in a smoke-and-mirrors world of spin and media manipulation. Where Man Ray’s Rayographs revealed an exterior shadow, my Xograms offer us both exterior and interior shadows, revealing a depth and density to the stuff of life that would otherwise remain hidden. X for magnification. In focusing on the in-between, I make the everyday appear uncommon, creating transcendent images that gift us an extraordinary way of seeing and knowing. For the artist, the delicate tension remains how much light to let in. As one part of the image emerges another necessarily fades. Like night moving into day it is this point of transference that intrigues. X proffers a kiss. An antidote to popular culture’s obsession with the superficial, my meticulously crafted work is a celebration of his passion for the technology. The consummation of material and surface sings of a love that is deep and substantial, a love that comes from within and without. Original 'x-waves' term coined by Hugh Turvey and this text featured in the Oxo Gallery Exhibition 2014 |
influence
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Russian Constructivist concepts (Rodchenko: 'unusual architecture, rhythm, and plasticity') and the photographic studies by Dr Harold E Edgerton of 'seeing the unseen'. In my experience anyone who works within radiography has moments outside of the normal job remit and curiosity drives them to x-ray objects within easy reach: their shoe, their hand, their wife’s hand etc. This was certainly true for Röntgen (the first x-ray of his wife Anna Bertha’s hand) and it was the same for me. One of my earliest Xograms is of my wife Artemi’s leg produced in 1998 when she was 29. It is a beautiful hand-coloured x-ray image of her tibia, fibula, ossa tarsi, metatarsals and phalanges and titled ‘Femme Fatale’ … the allure of the stiletto and the visual insight to how the foot is indubitably contorted.
The comic fantasy of x-ray specs: The idea that by just wearing special glasses an ordinary person can reveal a hidden truth….this is just a fantastical idea. One of my favorite popular culture x-ray specs moments: This concept of revealing truth is one of the simplest structures in storytelling and for me simply exemplified in the 1999 film ‘The Matrix’ when Neo (Keanu Reeves) has his epiphany, perceives his true environment and its structure of the Matrix is revealed to him…it is a glorious moment of self-realisation giving birth to strength, understanding and purpose. 間 MA: The Japanese concept of Ma is something that relates to all aspects of life. It has been described as a pause in time, an interval or emptiness in space. Ma is the fundamental time and space life needs to grow. If we have no time, if our space is restricted, we cannot grow. How we spend our time and shape the space we live in directly impacts our progress. These principles are universal, when applied effectively they enhance the way we think and how we engage with our surroundings. – the space between the edges, between the beginning and the end, the space and time in which we experience life. Ma is filled with nothing but energy and feeling. It speaks of silence as opposed to sound, of lack as opposed to excess. It is the momentary pause in speech needed to convey meaningful words, the silence between the notes that make the music… 插花 IKEBANA: space is an essential component and often the focal point of an arrangement. It is viewed as ‘invisible energy’ that gives life to the form. Space is carefully shaped by the placement of materials. Arrangements excel in forming a unique interplay between the two. When we observe Ikebana, we are encouraged to step back to appreciate the whole form. Only then do we notice the delicate interaction between all parts. In a time of increasing demands, requiring quick reactions, Ikebana reminds us to slow down, to fill our time and space, not with things but with meaning and purpose. |
röntgen
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